We had the pleasure of photographing this beautifully restored 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air. Central Texas automotive photography means lots of small downs with lots of texture. The white, silver and chrome color scheme on the outside was super clean. We paired it with a old brick wall in downtown Troy, Tx. The red background matched the red interior.
Fins & Jets
This is a car from the fins and jet engines era of American car design and is one of the most iconic examples. The cold war was spinning up after WWII and the space race was just getting started. Air Force test pilots like Chuck Yeager were national stars. American scientists were racing the Russians to build rockets capable of putting satellites and men in orbit.
The national fervor for the space race showed in the cars from the era with huge fins and lots of details designed to invoke jet engines and rockets. Even the chrome on the car had wing edge like shapes. This was a car designed to look like the fastest machines man had ever built: jets and rockets.
The space theme continues to the inside of the car with the wheel-in-wheel steering wheel the deep set gauges in round pods and curving dash. The cherry red of the interior is the perfect complement to the ultra-clean white and chrome exterior.
This is a restored car, but it is not a trailer queen. It is driven. Items like the chrome have some scratches and pitting. When we photograph a classic car like this the question is always “how much retouching should we do?” Like portraits, there is a fine line between the right amount and way to much. In this case, we left the car as is in the photos. The patina tell part of the car’s story.
This car is 62 years old and it is still on the road. In fact, it is one of the most eye catching cars you are likely see. It dates from an age when exuberance was the norm.
